Through the Looking Glass
by hatondog
Summary: A series of one shots. Missing scenes, unheard conversations...the bits that won't leave my head but don't have the good grace to turn into longer stories. They'll be sad, funny or whatever they choose to be  I'm so rarely in control . Mostly Z/J. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

_Scenes From the Looking Glass, Part One_

**A/N: Lacking inspiration for a longer story, this is the first in a series of what will be random one shots. Mostly Jo/Zane, unless the spirit moves me otherwise. Missing scenes, unheard conversations… just little immunizations against the hiatus/ upcoming series finale (*_sob_*)/ endless-spate-of-re-runs/ nothing-to-see-at-the-movies-or-read-on-Kindle blahs.**

"So, those are the Astraeus crew members?"

As she entered the GD rotunda, Jo heard a woman's voice come from the bottom of the entrance staircase. An oversized version of the crew photo taken before the Astraeus launch was mounted next to the door, a silent reminder of who'd been lost. The poster had gone up a few days after Astraeus vanished from the GD launch pad, destination unknown.

Two weeks later, most people barely spared the image a glance as they passed. Like the focus on finding Astraeus, the photo had become part of the fabric of everyday life. Jo rarely looked at it. Neither did Henry—the pain of seeing Grace frozen in time was too great a distraction.

The woman speaking, however, was new to GD, part of a rotating group of DoD personnel who'd descended on the facility. Their presence having no apparent purpose, most of the newcomers bored quickly of small town life. Some made nuisances of themselves at GD, but most simply holed up in Café Diem, gossiping over Vincent's endless supply of snacks until their replacement showed up.

"Uh, huh," the woman's companion confirmed. Jo could see the women now, one blonde the other brunette. Both pretty and very young. "That's the missing geek patrol."

The blonde giggled. "Sssh—don't be mean, someone will hear you."

"Well, sorry, but you haven't been stuck here as long as I have. I've been here for almost two weeks and believe me, this place is crawling with pocket protector types. And the few guys who're worth a second look? Most of them talk like they're from Planet X. Or they're married or something. I think I could walk naked through here without a single male noticing. It's depressing, and I can't wait to get back to the real world." The brunette gestured dramatically toward the door, nearly hitting the crew photo. Both women looked at it again.

"What about _that _guy, he's totally hot." Jo stiffened, in no doubt about the subject of the blonde's admiration. "I mean, holy crap, _look_ at him—he's drop dead gorgeous." Her friend waved the comment away.

"Yeah, but based on the other guys here? I bet that's been photoshopped—some sort of PR fake-out to make the crew look good. Probably looks like a troll in real life."

The blonde sighed. "Or he's gay. Seems like all the really hot guys are these days." The brunette shook her head as they started up the stairs to where Jo stood, rooted to the floor.

"Nah, I asked. Figured if he really does look like that, he'd at least be good fantasy material, you know?" She laughed. "From what I hear, he's definitely not gay. But someone said he _is_ off the market—way off. No surprise, since he's probably the best looking guy in the whole area, but still...nothing to look forward to there. If he's not already space debris, that is."

Jo gasped. Her hands curled into fists, fingernails digging into her palms at the woman's callous words. She and the blonde looked curiously at Jo as they passed, then scurried away from her expression.

Staring fixedly ahead, Jo walked down the stairs to the poster. Her chest tightened as her eyes flickered over the familiar faces. Grace. Fargo. Holly. Slowly, she dragged her gaze up to the back row. Zane.

His blue eyes drew the eye with their striking contrast to the backdrop of his black flight suit, dark hair and beard. His expression was unusually serious, gaze intense. As she recalled, he'd been angry that day, still upset with her for dropping out of the Titan mission. While the others smiled broadly for the photographer, Zane had nearly been scowling.

She bit her lip at the realization that he hadn't been looking at the camera. He'd been looking at her.

_Off the market_…he'd been angrier than she'd realized. Maybe because he'd cared more than she'd realized.

With a wave of longing that nearly made her nauseous, Jo turned away. A scowl looked out of place on Zane's face. He was a smirker at heart. His usual expression suggested that he knew something you didn't and was hugely amused by the fact. And his full smile was, to use the clueless girls' words, gorgeous.

At least to Jo, who would give anything at that moment to see it again.


	2. Chapter 2

_Scenes From the Looking Glass__, Chapter 2_

**Just a little one shot set not long before the timeline change (so Jo and Zane are still dating, Holly isn't a factor, etc.).**

"Holy socks," Fargo breathed. He was standing in front of a bathroom mirror, gazing in awe at his reflection. "It worked."

He turned quickly back into a nearby lab where he'd been working. On the floor was a box containing a new miniaturized particle collider. That morning, he'd tried to impress a new lab assistant by hoisting the box onto the bench. But lifting it turned out to be well beyond his muscle's capabilities. Instead, he'd only managed to knock it over, nearly breaking the obscenely expensive device, much to the amusement of everyone present.

While slinking away, he'd run into two delivery workers who'd arrived to haul obsolete equipment off for destruction. When they asked for confirmation that a particular item was stored in the lab, the seed of an idea (which, like many of Fargo's, would have been better ignored) was planted.

Now he stood staring down at the box that had defeated him. Someone had pushed it upright, so the collider was again safely packaged within. Glancing around to make sure he was alone, Fargo tugged lightly at the side of the box. It slid easily. With a grin, he bent down, trying to remember if he was supposed to lift heavy objects with his knees bent or straight. Happily for his lower back, he chose correctly. With a quiet grunt, he managed to pull the box up to his chest, then gently placed it on the lab bench.

Punching the air, Fargo danced around the lab, pausing to pat the DNA scanner he'd pulled from storage before trotting back into the bathroom. He ran his hand over his face to confirm that it felt as it appeared. Stubbly beard, check. Slightly wavy dark hair, check. In his reflection, blue eyes looked back where once brown eyes had been.

Fargo was Zane.

__

Fargo strode through GD's rotunda, enjoying the perspective Zane's height afforded while planning a brief tour through Eureka's few night spots. For years, he'd watched women light up with predatory interest at the sight of Zane. For just one night, he had the chance to see what it felt like to be on the receiving end of such attention.

Zane had gone home early that day, exhausted after an all-nighter pulled on a rush project. Fargo figured he had until maybe 5 am before Zane rejoined the living. So he'd set the transformation to be a few hours' duration to ensure that it ended before dawn. Until then, he intended to put Zane's body to maximum use, at least to the extent possible while clothed.

Anything more intimate was out of the question-the thought of acting on some woman's attraction to another guy was creepy. Not to mention the thought of facing the wrath of Zane or Jo if either found out what he'd done while inhabiting the former's body. So a bit of light flirtation with a couple of women (preferably ones who'd never have reason to cross Jo's path) would have to do.

Just as he reached the front door, however, a hand on his shoulder pulled him to a stop. Turning, Fargo felt his (Zane's?) mouth go dry and his eyes bug out.

"There you are," said Jo. "I haven't seen you all day. I thought I'd pick you up and save you the drive to my place. I'll bring you back in the morning," she said with a suggestive smile.

"Um, well…" Fargo stammered. Whatever he might have said vanished from his lips when Jo captured them in a kiss unlike anything Fargo had experienced. Too stunned to attempt reciprocation, Fargo just stood there until Jo pulled back, confused.

"Zane? Are you all right?"

"No. I mean, yes…I'm just…tired. Long day and all," Fargo managed to gasp before running out of air.

"Well then," Jo purred. "We'll just have to make sure you get plenty of rest…eventually." With a wicked smile, she turned, pulling Fargo along.

"_I am going to hell. Zane is going to kill me, then I'm going to hell. No, Jo will kill me, THEN Zane will kill me, THEN I'm going to hell. Oh, hell…._" Fargo thought as he trailed behind Jo, unable to resist the temptation to at least see what happened next.

The ride to Jo's house was a silent one. Although she'd shot worried glances toward him, she seemed to accept his explanation that he—Zane—was just bone tired. Now, standing in Jo's living room waiting for her to bring their wine from the kitchen, Fargo began to truly panic. This situation was far more than he'd bargained for when he'd decided to use the decommissioned DNA scanner to repeat, with obvious tweaks, the experiment that had once turned his ex-girlfriend Julia into Jo.

Like Julia, he'd just wanted to see what it was like to be widely regarded as attractive. Unlike Julia, he hadn't had a specific liaison in mind when he assumed Zane's identity. Although Fargo had once had a crush on Jo, that had faded with time. So the idea of doing with her what apparently came naturally to Zane was breathtaking in all the wrong ways. Hyperventiliating, Fargo began to scurry to the door.

"Zane." Jo's voice stopped him in his tracks. "Where are you going?"

"I…I…I just was going to get my PDA. From your car. I left it in your car." Fargo's voice came out in a high-pitched squeak that sounded wrong even to his own ears.

"Really." Jo's tone was curiously flat. "You left your PDA in my car?"

Fargo just nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Jo stepped toward him and ran her hand down his cheek with one hand. With the other, she raised her PDA to show him the message displayed there.

"So, if you left your PDA in my car, how is it that I just got a message from you?" Fargo's eyes flicked to the PDA screen:

Something is WAY the hell wrong. Find Fargo—find _me_—and LOCK HIM DOWN.

Zane

Before he could answer, Jo pushed Fargo back onto the couch. As she stood over him, gun drawn from apparently thin air, the front door crashed open. Zane—emanating rage from Fargo's body—stomped inside.

Abandoning all pretense at cool, Fargo wailed and tried to dive under a nearby coffee table. Jo and Zane grabbed him as he scuttled along the floor and pulled him up. Looking into their eyes, Fargo swore he saw his life flash before his eyes. His life, in his own body, which now seemed incredibly precious.

He began to blubber. "I'm so _sorry_, I'll change us back, I _promise_, just don't kill me. I mean, this is Zane's body and I'm sure he wants it back unharmed, right?"

Zane, glaring with more menace than Fargo had ever achieved with the same face, leaned in close. "There better not be ONE. SINGLE. CELL missing. Not even a hair." He turned to Jo. "Did he…did you…?"

Looking revolted, Jo shook her head.

"Good," snapped Zane. "We _might_ let you live, but only if you fix this immediately." As he began pulling Fargo to the door, he added "And never EVER tell _anyone _that I was…you."

"Hey!" Fargo began to protest, only to quail at the fierce glowers from Zane and Jo.

Meekly, he went with them to GD. With a few flipped switches, Zane was restored to his own body and Fargo to his. Stepping forward without a word, Jo kissed Zane passionately. When they came up for air, she looked at him appraisingly then nodded. "Back to normal," she confirmed.

Zane stood and yanked a cable loose on the DNA scanner, disabling it. Then he turned toward Fargo, cable dangling from his hand. Fargo paled. They locked eyes for several moments, blue to brown, before Zane let the cable drop to the floor. Shaking his head in disgust, he reached for Jo's hand. They left without looking back.

Sagging with relief, Fargo leaned back against a lab bench, causing his elbow to brush against a box. As he watched in helpless horror, the particle collider he'd so happily lifted a few hours before crashed to the floor. The lab assistant he'd been hoping to impress earlier that day ran into the room.

"Dr. Fargo!" she said breathlessly. "I didn't know you were here. I was just finishing a report when I heard the sound…" She broke off as she caught sight of the shattered collider.

Blushing to his roots, Fargo bent down to scoop up pieces of the ruined device. His hand brushed across a jagged edge of metal, causing a line of blood to pool there. In a second, the lab assistant was at his side, reaching for his injured hand.

"You're hurt," she said softly. Their eyes met as she pulled his hand up to brush a light kiss across it. Her face went rosy too, but she held his gaze, smiling shyly.

Outwardly, Fargo's smile was equally shy. Inwardly, though, he was grinning broadly, with all the suave cool he'd enjoyed during his short stint as Zane. He stood just a bit taller than usual, with a shade more confidence in his own charm. And, as he and his new friend left GD for a bite at Café Diem, Fargo thought that this night might just turn out perfectly after all.

**A/N: Personally, I think SyFy might have missed a bet by not having a Fargo/Zane switch rather than a Julia/Jo one in the "Your Face or Mine?" episode. Not that the ep wasn't good, but having Niall Matter play Fargo and Neil Grayston play Zane, just once? Comedy gold, IMO.**


	3. Chapter 3

Reprise (Reprised)

_A/N: Just another one shot, inspired by the question of how Jo and Zane moved from kissing in the ashes at the end of Reprise to, er, their upgraded activities without her 'must live without Zane' mode kicking in. And by the question of how Jo came to terms with Zane's criminal history. Also how differences in that history (Zane 1.0 wasn't convicted, apparently 2.0 was) affected him. So, basically, this is me answering a bunch of my own questions :-p Enjoy!_

_Usual disclaimer: Don't own SyFy. If I did, I wouldn't have canceled Eureka…AND would have coughed up the cash to put Zane into the holiday ep!_

He had burned down her house. But she had shot her best friend. Of the two offenses, the first seemed almost trivial in comparison. Sighing, Jo admitted to herself that she couldn't hold Zane's hypnotically-induced destruction of her home against him. If he was responsible for his actions, wouldn't that mean she was culpable for nearly killing Carter? Unthinkable—so she chose to absolve herself and, by extension, Zane.

Neurolinguistic programming in the town's music database had triggered the day's bizarre events. For her, "I Shot the Sheriff" had become nightmarishly real. For Zane, "Burning Down the House" became a way to seize her attention. But no rogue algorithm was behind their actions that night.

With the smell of smoke swirling around her, Jo's defenses against Zane's persistence fell like paper maiché. Everything about her life had changed, including Zane, but his kiss felt familiar, like coming home.

Conveniently, it also put an end to his questions about the timeline-even Zane couldn't kiss and talk at the same time. So she'd frowned when he pulled away. Clearly, she couldn't put his curiosity off any longer with simple denials. Thanks to Fargo, he knew now that she wasn't the Jo he'd known, and he wasn't her Zane. He knew they'd been in love once, once upon a time.

She had no idea how he felt about that knowledge, or about her. But she knew him well enough to recognize that he'd be relentless in his pursuit of information. Resistance would eventually become futile.

"Zane," she breathed, not sure what she'd say next.

He shook his head then tilted her head up until their eyes met. "Come home with me, Jo," he said quietly.

She just nodded, letting go of conscious thought. The ride to his place went by in a blur. Arms wrapped around Zane as they sat on his motorcycle, she closed her eyes, forcing her mind to remain blank. In his apartment, they'd barely made it to the couch before speech became unnecessary and impossible. Afterward, she'd silenced him with a hand on his lips and led him to his bedroom, further forestalling conversation.

If she'd had any doubts that this Zane was physically identical to the man she remembered, they'd been erased. He was a bit more muscular, but was otherwise the same from head to foot. And the similarities didn't end with his body.

When they first made love in the other timeline, they'd been younger and less sure of themselves. Then as now, they'd gone to Zane's apartment. Initially, they'd been ill at ease, bumping heads and struggling with clothing. But once all their clothes were on the floor, Zane went still. His gaze had been intense, all sign of awkwardness gone. "God, you're beautiful, Jo," he'd said reverently, pulling her into his arms, standing quietly for long moments before giving in to passion.

This Zane had said and done the same thing.

Remembering, Jo swallowed hard against a lump in her throat. Not wanting to wake him, she rolled slowly over to face the man now sleeping by her side. Her body felt languid, but her thoughts began to swirl. As she stared into Zane's face, the emotions she'd been suppressing all evening began to surface: doubt, confusion, fear, relief. And love, although she couldn't tell whether it was for the man in her memory or the one beside her in bed.

Eyes closed, he was the physical embodiment of her memories. Eyes open, differences emerged—this Zane smiled less often and was less playful. His expression tended to wariness and he was more distant, not only with her but with everyone.

Suddenly, she wanted to know why. As if hearing her thoughts, Zane's eyes opened.

"Hey," he said sleepily.

"Hi," she answered softly. He smiled and pulled her close. For a few minutes, they listened to each other's breath rise and fall.

Zane finally broke the silence. "We have to talk about this, you know. About us—both versions."

Jo didn't respond. She'd fought so long to keep the truth from him that saying anything about their other life together felt dangerous, even though he'd already learned enough to be at risk for sanctions. Vaguely, she thought she should still be furious at Fargo for spilling their secret. Yet the feel of Zane's skin against hers was making anger hard to hold on to.

Thinking of her own questions, Jo came to a decision. She had a theory about where the two Zanes' paths had diverged that only he could confirm. "Quid pro quo," she said.

"What?"

"I'll tell you about…us, if you tell me something about yourself." She felt him stiffen and pull slightly away. "Like what?" he asked cautiously.

Jo propped herself up on her arm so she could monitor his reaction. "What was prison like for you?"

All signs of animation drained from Zane's face. He went completely still, barely breathing. His tone was without expression as he answered. "Wouldn't you already know that? From before?"

Jo shook her head. "You—the other you—didn't go to prison. You…he…were never actually convicted. A talent scout for Eureka found him right after the arrest. Allison intervened and a deal was made to bring him here in lieu of conviction."

Zane looked away toward the wall. "Yeah, well, I wasn't so lucky."

Although he hadn't moved, Zane had withdrawn. Jo took that to mean that she was probably right, that his time in prison had changed him in some fundamental way. For a moment, she hesitated to push him about what was obviously a painful subject. But the information felt somehow essential to her understanding of him.

"I know from your records that you weren't paroled to Eureka until 10 months after your arrest. You spent part of that time in county jail awaiting trial and part in prison, yes?" She watched as his lips tightened. He nodded without speaking, gaze still fixed on the wall.

Jo's heart twisted. She'd spent much of her adult life in law enforcement and believed in the judicial system. According to her usual worldview, anyone who stole 3.5 million dollars deserved to be locked up. And she'd certainly seen Zane behind bars—apparently it had been a regular occurrence in this timeline. Yet the idea of him sitting in _prison_, surrounded by violent criminals with years in a cell stretching out before him was agonizing. If it horrified her, how had the experience affected him?

"What happened, Zane?" she asked in a near whisper.

He didn't respond until Jo thought he might not. When he finally did answer, his voice was strained.

"I was stupid. I knew there was a chance I'd get busted for hacking the DOA. I thought I'd covered my tracks well enough that they wouldn't be able to trace the money transfer. But I was wrong. I got so caught up in playing Robin Hood I skipped over some things, basic stuff that would have made it harder for them to pin the theft on me." He looked at Jo. "You know I didn't take it for myself, right?" Before she could answer, he shrugged and continued.

"Doesn't matter. Did the crime so had to do the time. But I didn't really know what that meant—like I said, stupid. Prison…". He looked back toward the wall. "Guess I watched too much TV as a kid. I pictured some nice clean cell with a kindly warden. Sort of like Carter," Zane snorted. "It wasn't like that." He fell silent again.

Jo gently stroked his arm until she felt some of the tension in his body melt away. After a deep breath, he spoke again. "By the time I came to Eureka, I felt less than human. And that was after only 6 months…I'd been looking at doing _15 years_. At first, I didn't really care that people here shied away from me. Anything was better than prison. But after a while, I got tired of being the town felon. Started making some friends. Eventually, most people seemed to forget how I got here." He rolled toward her. "Except you, Jo. You never forgot."

She shook her head. "That was the other me."

"Yeah, but what about you? Your…_me_…wasn't a convict, ex- or otherwise. I am. Can you handle that?"

Jo sat up slowly. "Zane, your record, or lack of one, hasn't ever been an issue for us. I don't approve of what you did, but I understand it."

"There's a 'but' in there somewhere," he said.

"No but. Not about that." She spoke haltingly. "I don't know where this…us…can go. You shouldn't even know about the other us—by telling you, Fargo put your life at risk. You know that, don't you?"

Zane nodded, but didn't appear concerned. Watching him, Jo felt resigned. It was too late to undo the damage Fargo had done—the bell was rung. Zane couldn't forget what he'd been told, and wouldn't stop until he knew everything. There was no point to keeping their prior relationship a secret from him. That is, unless it could stand in the way of them having a relationship now.

Jo was startled at the thought. Having any kind of relationship with this Zane had seemed impossible only a few hours earlier. Although, if she was honest with herself, she _had_ imagined sleeping with him. Hell, she'd done more than imagine it—she'd dreamed about it, awake and asleep. The attraction between them had always been powerful and the temptation to relive that part of her life with him too hard to resist. But here was this _chance_…maybe they could be something again, even if it wasn't the same as before. Had they ruined it by jumping into bed too soon?

She was jerked out of her thoughts by Zane's hand running along her thigh. He was smiling again.

"So, JoJo, quid pro quo." He gestured between them. "What were we like before?"

She smiled. "That's your first question? What kind of physicist doesn't want to know _how_ before _what_?"

Zane's smile broadened and Jo couldn't help grinning back. Whether or not the sex had been a mistake, the discussion hadn't been. Zane seemed lighter somehow.

"Oh, trust me. I _will_ know everything about how_._ But right now…" his hand demanded Jo's attention. "it's the _what_ that's really interesting."

"I can't think while you…while you're doing that…" Jo ran out of breath.

"OK," Zane said congenially. "I'll stop." He sat up and tucked his hands behind his back. Jo glared at him, disgruntled, and he laughed.

"I can see I'll have to get this conversational ball rolling myself. Let's see, were we…like this?" He leaned forward and ran his lips over her hair, hands still behind his back. She nodded, biting her lip against a smile.

"Duly noted. Now, did we ever…" Jo gasped as his hand brushed across her. He shook his hand as if he had no idea where it had appeared from. "Huh. Good to know."

"How about-" Jo cut him off by pushing him down onto his back. "Time for talking time is over, Science Boy."

"So we're tabling the discussion of the past for later?" murmured Zane. Jo nodded. "Then I guess the question is, what would you like to do now?"

Jo raised her head, wondering how he'd respond. "To stop playing games," she said, watching him carefully.

"Meaning what?" he asked, just as he'd done to the same comment years before.

"This," she said, kissing him again.

He smiled. "That, I liked."

_Reprise: from the French word meaning "repetition of a song or theme."_


End file.
